Christian Living – Page 4 – TREM Marks Gate

My Time Belongs to God

Lare Ayoola was a speaker at the Big League Summit of the Kingdom Life World Conference 2014. Below are excerpts of an interview he granted at the end of the Conference.

Question: In a nutshell, how would you rate the just concluded Kingdom Life World Conference, in terms of content for yourself as a business person as well as the spiritual aspect? What is your general opinion Sir?
Answer: I think that the conference was well timed. I think that in Nigeria today, a lot of business men are a little lost. They have tried very hard but things have been quite difficult. They have put in maximum effort and they are not as satisfied as they would like to be but, as this conference came, I personally felt it was a doorway to a new beginning; a doorway to a new land, a new destination.

A time for a rethink of what you have being doing, what you should be doing and the use of your mental faculty – your connection with God and your relationship with the Holy Spirit to really redesign your future. Looking at the situation like where you are today is not where you are supposed to be, and where you are supposed to be is waiting for you but you just haven’t decided to get there. You haven’t decided to connect with your inner self, with the Holy Spirit and take His direction.

This conference to me is a conference that has opened up my heart, opened up my spirit, given me a new direction. It has made me decide to even go back to ministry. I have been sitting on the bench for the past seven years and it is time to serve. Even with the decision to serve, doors are opening up for me all over the place. I wish there was time for testimonies because the testimonies I would have even in this conference would be mind blowing.

I know that as time goes on the Lord will give me opportunities to share what I have seen, what I have received, the revelation, the opportunities, the helpers that have been sent to me from all parts of the world to knock on my door and say, ‘come and allow us to help you’. This time around, it is not a time for TREMites or Christians to be knocking on doors, the helpers will be knocking on our doors. The doors will be flying open, the guidance to which doors to take and what you should do when you enter those doors will appear to you and you will pass through them and get to that promised land.

Everybody has a promised land which is always seen as a land of abundance and plenty and wealth and riches but I say that the promised land is the land where you are content, you are happy, you are full of joy; you wake up in the morning and you are happy to be alive. You wake up in the morning and even without food you are satisfied and with plenty of food, you are still satisfied. I feel that this conference has been a catalyst to the massive development of people who have attended and people who have heard and people who will watch it on satellite television or the internet.

So for me this is a conference of new beginning, a conference of hope. I feel that everyone who has attended this conference will benefit tremendously and see a massive change in their lives because Bishop Mike Okonkwo and all the other ministers who have ministered to us have showered anointing upon us and we have strength, we have vision, we have energy, we have hope, we have faith and we are activated.

We shall go forth and do great things and the testimony that will be told next year will be amazing and those testimonies in themselves will be catalyst for those who have been sitting on the sidelines, yet to decide whether to come to Christ or not. They will come to Christ and they will become part of the work force that will serve God and bring more souls to Christ in Jesus name.

Question: How easy is it to start a business, especially if you don’t come from a ‘silver spoon’ family or if you were not born with any spoon and you don’t have connections but you have great ideas? A lot of people who listened to you while you were giving your talk at the Big League Summit would have said because you came from a privileged background, maybe you saved the allowances your dad gave you and used that money to start something. How do you start something with nothing, and how do you run with it?
Answer: I have been described as a ‘silver spoon’ child. I am not quite sure what that means because even when people were looking at me as a ‘silver spoon’ child, we were very average, compared to many children we knew at that time. The strategy I applied to my business is the same strategy that the poorest of traders in Alaba market use.

Persistence, removal of greed from the strategy, which means: sell the product (even if you make one Naira) but gain a friend and gain a customer. To me, stamina, first-class service, faithfulness, honesty and loyalty are some of ingredients that would make even the poorest of entrepreneurs rich. Yes, I was rich by virtue of my birth but at the time I started business, I did not tap into my father’s wealth. I tapped into the education I had.

Indeed, my education was good but along the way, I have come across business men who make me look like a very small boy in business who did not go to the best schools that money could buy like I did. It humbled me in that I had a Bachelors’ Degree and a Masters’ Degree and people who did not even finish primary school were teaching me how to do business, how to have faith, how to have a medium and long term strategy and not a short term strategy.

The boy who becomes an apprentice and serves for 5, 6 or 7 years in very humble conditions with virtually no income, waiting for that moment when his master will say ‘’Yes, you have served me well and diligently, this is your shop’ and he gets a little shop and from that little shop he gets other little shops and eventually becomes a major exporter, I respect that person a lot more than a university graduate who joins a bank and does the normal thing and after twenty years becomes the bank manager.

It doesn’t take money to start a business because even when I started my business, I started by the financial generosity of others. By companies whom I had the faith to ask for credit and because they looked into my eyes and I suppose saw something that showed them that I was sincere, granted me credit; incredible amounts of credit, to be quite frank, which was surprising, bearing in mind that I had no house or cash to give as collateral.

All I had was my word, all I had was my sincerity of purpose and my sincerity as a human being. They didn’t know me, they were foreigners, they didn’t know whether I was a ‘silver spoon’, a wooden spoon or a no spoon person but they knew I was sincere because I was sincere. That which is inside you will always come out and tell the people who you are. If you don’t have it inside you, it won’t come out and speak for you. If you have the Holy Spirit inside you, He will summon angels who will speak for you. They will go far ahead and speak.

If you are honest, that honesty will come out and speak to the people you are talking to. Another ingredient is boldness and I feel that the ingredient of success is not a silver spoon, it is not a privileged background. Do you know that most children with privileged backgrounds do not become successes? If you look at Nigeria today, the most successful people do not come from privileged backgrounds. Tony Elumelu, where did he come from? Aliko Dangote, where did he come from? My father, where did he come from? He was a poor child from Ilesa. A man whose father was a school teacher and who was educated in what I will call the studies of life.

Who are you? Are you somebody who is nobody or are you somebody who is going to become somebody? What makes that man better than me? What makes him better than me is that he tried. He was sincere, he kept at it, he moved in faith, he didn’t sit down and wait for handouts, he went out and asked for opportunities, he went out and made a way, even where there was no way. How did he do that? In most cases, because he had a belief in God and he was able to move forward with that strength of belief that he was more than a conqueror not someone to sit on the sidelines.

Success as an entrepreneur comes not from how much money you have but comes from how much substance you have; spiritual substance and the conviction you have inside you, sincerity of purpose and all the things I have said before. The success of virtually everybody I know, has come from that, and not from the cash they had.

How much money did Bill Gates have when he started Microsoft? He had a business in the garage, maybe he had one little computer, he had an idea, a vision and he was ready to stick to it and he knew it and he went forward and he got it. I don’t know whether Bill Gates believes in Jesus Christ or not, however I do know that he was not a rich child and therefore, being a rich child could only be an advantage if your parents sowed the right seeds in you, the right philosophies in you. I know many rich parents’ children who are very poor today and many poor children who are very rich today, so the beginning is not important but the destination, that is the key.

Question: How do you make out time for God in spite of your hectic schedule and all of the success around you?
Answer: I was very fortunate. God showed me, at the peak of my wealth what life is like without Him. I was up there and I fell like a comet to the ground and you know when comets hit the ground, because they are so big and so powerful, they dig a very deep hole. I found myself in a deep hole and when you are in a deep hole and you look up and you can’t even see the sunlight at mid-day, then you know that your hole is very deep. You see because I have been there, I don’t want to go back there.

Without God, life is horribly difficult. I don’t just make time for God …..my time belongs to God and He owns it. I think of Him all the time. I am continuously aware of His presence and the fact that He keeps me safe. You know that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. Well I say that is true but I add that wisdom is spending time with God. He is all powerful so what safer place is there but to be with Him; and what could be a better strategy than to aim to please Him? After all, I need all the blessings that I can get. Don’t you?

Lare Ayoola is Chairman/CEO of Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited

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Power In The Word: Find Effective Use Of The Catch-Phrase

Catchphrases, otherwise called slogans abound in all spheres of human existence—-from Politics to Sports. “Just do it!” and “Yes we can!” are to name but two examples. And regardless of their origin, two things give every slogan momentum. First, a slogan is coined to express a principle or belief or goal. “Good people, great nation!” is one example. Second, most slogans are inherently memorable, which is why they are often chanted.

There’s a downside to slogans, however. Owing to their ease of being memorized, slogans have the tendency to become popular and easily clichéd—-the point at which people repeat a slogan as a mantra—-without even thinking about it. What’s worse, a slogan that has attained cliché status “has lost its original effectiveness or power from overuse” (Encarta English Dictionary).

Slogans can be a boon when they are used intentionally and purposefully, and with clarity about their original meaning and purpose. For example, Nike’s (Nike Air) ubiquitous “Just Do It!” slogan, which has the clear purpose of motivating athletes (and, by extension all who admire the ideals of athletics) to success, will be more beneficial to a speaker (and hearer) if they understand the slogan’s original purpose to motivate.

Thus, understanding the meaning and purpose of a slogan is what allows the speaker to achieve meaningful results with it. And nowhere is this painstaking approach more important than in the Christian circle, since the speaking of frivolous or idle words is discouraged (Matthew 12:36).

Given the imperative to use a slogan purposefully as a device to accomplish something specific as opposed to using it like a mantra, Olusegun Martins Th.D., Registrar at God’s Army Bible College, Lagos advises people to reach for a heart-mouth synergy when they use a slogan, in order to accomplish the purpose of such a slogan.

He says: “There has to be a connection between your heart and your mouth. That’s simply the expression of faith. That’s how it works. You must have faith in what you’re saying for it to come to pass. And if you don’t believe in what you’re saying it may not happen. You must believe it. Even God watches over His word to ensure it comes to pass.”

Evidently, it will be somewhat of a nullity to just repeat a slogan, especially a Christian slogan like “Power in the Word!” without understanding its original import, or worse, to say it frivolously as a cliché, without a deliberate expectation for it to accomplish a specific purpose. It is needful, as a result, to pay more heed and be deliberate in the use of slogans, especially those derived from scripture, like our home-grown “Power-in-the-Word!” In our own interest, we must use such a slogan not as a mantra, but conscientiously and meaningfully, always discerning its basis and purpose.

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Thanksgiving… Why Bother?

It is written, by the testimony of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be established (II Corinthians 13:1). Here are three witnesses in hymns and prose spanning a 150-year period:

For the Beauty of the Earth (1864)

For the beauty of the earth
For the beauty of the skies
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies

Refrain:
Father unto to Thee we raise
This, our sacrifice of praise

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night
Hill and vale, and tree and flower
Sun and moon, and stars of light

For the joy of ear and eye
For the heart and brain’s delight
For the mystic harmony
Sinking sense to sound and sight

For the joy of human love
Brother, sister, parent, child
Friends on earth and friends above
For all gentle thoughts and mild

For each perfect gift of thine
To our race so freely given
Graces human and divine
Flowers of earth and buds of heaven

For thy Church that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above
Offering up on every shore
This pure sacrifice of love

For thyself, best Gift Divine
To the world so freely given
For that great, great love of thine
Peace on earth and joy in heaven

Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835 – 1917)

We thank Thee (1962)

We thank Thee each morning for a newborn day
Where we may work the fields of new mown hay
We thank Thee for the sunshine
And the air that we breathe
Oh Lord, we thank Thee

We thank Thee for the rivers that run all day
We thank Thee for the little birds that sing away
We thank Thee for the trees
And the deep blue sea
Oh Lord, we thank Thee

Oh yes, we thank Thee Lord
For every flower that blooms
Birds that sing, fish that swim
And the light of the moon

We thank Thee every day
As we kneel and pray
That we were born with eyes
To see these things.

We thank Thee for the fields
Where the clovers grow
We thank Thee for the pastures
Where the cattle may roam
We thank Thee for Thy love so pure and so free
Oh Lord, we thank Thee.

Jim Reeves (1923 -1964)

Perspective…

Have you ever really sat back and realised the things we take for granted? I did. The date was March 20, 2002. I was at work (I’m a supervisor) training one of my new girls on a machine. We make speaker covers. The machine was an air press that trims the part before it is shipped to major companies. Unfortunately for me, she wasn’t paying attention. In a split second, my life was changed forever.

I lost three fingers in that accident, on my dominant hand. The surgeon was able to replant them, but a year later, I lost my index finger once again. As it stands now, I may lose the other two as well. Being a single mother of two girls, it was really tough doing everyday things that I’ve come to realise we take for granted: tying shoes, changing diapers, washing dishes with one hand, sweeping the floors, drying my hair, …you get the picture.

But I still have seven fingers. Always remember to count your blessings and to thank GOD for all that you have, regardless of how small it may seem. HE has certainly blessed my family and me. Without HIM, I would have never gotten through this tragedy.

A Mountain Wings Original by Theresa Sweeney, Fountain Hill, AR

King David, the perpetual witness, of course, has much to say about giving thanks to the Most High. In Psalm 19, he joins Folliot Pierpoint and Jim Reeves above by declaring: “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the works of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night, they reveal knowledge.” And in Psalm 92, he hits it home by stating: “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises to thy name, O Most High. To show forth your lovingkindness in the morning and your faithfulness at night.”

You and I can join the ranks of this cloud of witnesses by declaring: “Sing for joy, O, you righteous. Praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre, sing praises to him with a harp of ten strings, sing to Him a new song, play skillfully with a shout of joy. Let everything that has breath, Praise the Lord!!!”

So why am I thankful? What am I thankful for? I am thankful for:

The gift of life;
My daily provisions;
The incomprehensible peace of God that keeps my heart and mind in the face of life’s contradictions;
The abiding presence of God that makes me feel loved and shielded;
His hedge of protection and His preservation of me and all that is mine;
The divine health I enjoy;
The great deliverances from known and unknown terrors and situations; and from the hands of they who are mightier than I;
His exceeding great and precious promises which keep my hope alive;
His grace that sustains me;
His mercies that are renewed to me every morning;
His compassion that reaches out to me;
His favour that encompasses me about like a shield;
The power that is in His word which consistently comes alive in my situations;
The efficacy of the blood of His son, Jesus Christ;
The free gift of salvation;
Above all, His many assurances, especially the assurance of eternity with Him.

And yes, I am thankful for the daily load of benefits in addition to the foregoing – the blessings, the miracles, the answered prayers and the gifts for which I did not even ask.

The heart that thinks is the heart that thanks. Everything we fail to give thanks for, we are liable to grumble or complain about. We must be thankful even for those things, which God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy has seen fit to withhold from us, because in giving them, there may perhaps lie our destruction or the truncating of our eternal destiny. We are blessed not because we are good but because the Lord is good and His mercies endure forever. We must choose to thank Him in ALL things because if He says to thank Him in all things, it is because in every circumstance, no matter how dire, there is still a reason, a cause, for which we can be thankful to Him.

Won’t you therefore join me in giving thanks to this good and faithful God for all of His many benefits to us, none of which we justly deserve.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines; though the olive crop fails and fields produce no food; though there are no sheep in the pens and no cattle in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God, my savior.

Rejoice in the Lord, again, I say, Rejoice.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION!!!

Deaconess Obafunke Alade-Adeyefa writes from Lagos, Nigeria

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Power To Become

God made the heaven of heaven for Himself. The heaven of heavens was made by God for Himself and the earth has he given to the children of men Ps 115:16. In other words, He say I’m in charge in heaven but I’m going to make earth, then I will give it to the children of men. Whenever God wants to do something here on earth, because of the way He has set things, He has made this earth a material world, He would always send a man, that is how He functions.

Gen1:26; after when God has put everything in place on earth, He said, let us make man in our own image and our likeness that they may have dominion and so God made them male and female and then gave them dominion, Gen1:28. He blessed them and said to them to be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth, replenish the earth and have dominion and then since man was made in the image of God, that means man is a spirit. God is a spirit and those that will worship Him will worship Him in spirit and in truth Jn4:24.

So man was made a spirit but Gen2 now tell us how man was packaged since he’s going to function in the material world. God took the dust of the earth and moulded the form of man, his physic, physiology moulded it in the shape of man and breath on him and scripture says man became a living soul. God made heaven for spiritual things and the earth for material things and so for man to function on earth, God gave man material body otherwise man cannot function effectively on earth and so God made a suit for man, an earthly suit that will be suitable for man to function on earth and that is why He gave man a body.

Your body is your suit, that is why when the spirit departs, the body drops. Man is a spirit, he has a soul and he lives inside a body. With your body, you can contact this earth. With your soul, you have self awareness and with your spirit, you have God’s consciousness. No one has right to function on this earth without a body. No one has right to function on this earth without passing through a woman’s womb. Even angels cannot function on earth, angels are our messengers, they listen to your voice of command, you command the angels and they deliver.

That was why Jesus has to come through Mary for Him to function on earth. Without any fear of contradiction, the devil does not have right because he does not have a mother but Jesus Christ the King of Kings has a mother because He came legitimately and that is why I can tell the devil in this place to pack his bag and get out! That is why the devil is always looking for body to operate through, he’s always fighting to come through somebody to operate. So it is possible for the devil to speak through human being even through a christian! So if God wants to do anything on earth, He send a man.

John the baptist was sent by God to come prepare a way for Jesus to function and when Jesus came to be baptized, John was like reluctant and Jesus was like without this I can’t function and immediately Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened and a dove descended on Him and God said this is my Beloved son in whom I’m well pleased and as many that has received Him, they became.
God always send a man whenever He wants to perform on earth and that was why He sent Jesus and as many that has received Him to them He gave power to Become. He was born of Mary, He had sisters and brothers but much more He is sent of God and when God send, there is Power.

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The Cycle of Life – A Pen for Your Thoughts…

The cycle of life consists of Valleys, Plains, Hills and Mountains. Every one of us is involved in this cycle of life, and life can start you at any part of this cycle. Some start in the valley; they were born into trouble, poverty and pain. Some were started in the plains where they have the basic comforts of life but not much ambition. Others had the benefit of being born on the mountain tops where everything is possible and good! The news is that no stage is permanent. Be sure to know that every stage is transitional. The BIG question is, Where are you right now?

In The Valley
The Valley is the lowest part of the cycle. It is a place of hardship, pain and struggle. It is also the place to toughen up and grow from boyhood to manhood. In the valley, your true relationships are revealed to you; be they friends or foes. It is the place where the faint-hearted simply give up. In the Valley, some develop a survival instinct and simply pitch their tents there. They believe that the Valley stage is their lot in life, after all, not everyone will be at the mountain top (and they are so correct). They become the leader of the slums and simply develop the ability to absorb whatever the Valley throws at them. Another group of people simply stay in the Valley long enough to finish their training and then fight their way out. They know and believe that there is still space at the top for them, so they find their way out of the Valley and end up on thePlains.

In The Plains
The Plains is a place of rest, respite, recovery and comfort. Its a place for the novices in life’s skills to start their mild training. It is a place of picnics, parties and fun. Unfortunately, this place of fantasy is just an illusion that does not always last. Some simply pitch their tents here and believe they have done well for themselves; after all they are better than the people in the Valley. Unfortunately, the Plains is a place of mediocrity. Most people get so comfortable with this stage that they do not attempt anything higher or better. They remain in this stage of false success until the enemy comes upon them suddenly in the form of unexpected circumstances and unforeseen issues. They then begin to run helter-skelter. Some end up right back in the Valley, and some, on their way to the foot of the mountains. They struggle and climb a bit and suddenly they are at the top. It wasn’t so difficult, was it? Alas! It is the top of the Hills.

At The Hills
The Hills is a place of progress; a place of small victories, little successes and some advancement. It is definitely a place where a person can experience measurable achievements. But these experiences are one-off incidents and there is so little room on the Hills. Depending on your level of focus, you may very well fall back into the Valley or Plains; or choose to be on your way up the Mountain top.

On The Mountains
The Mountains is a place of mixed blessings. The road up the Mountains is extremely lonely. Most people prefer to settle down at the Hill tops; it’s not so difficult to get there and even though the achievements are quite limited, they are okay with that because they don’t have to work too hard. The Mountains on the other hand is a place of “make it or get broken!” There is no room for mediocrity; only the toughest survive and make it to the top. The journey up requires full development of every skill you have acquired: physical, mental, emotional, and psychological. The painful part is that, on your way up, people stop understanding you, even your loved ones! Some even give up on you and only those that love you unconditionally will stick around (and often wonder if you know what you are doing!).

However, the interesting part is that the moment you get to the top and push your flag of success into the Mountains, voilà! All your “friends” will return. After all, success has many relatives. You are suddenly surrounded with so much love! The major challenge with this stage is knowing how long to remain at this particular Mountain top. It’s not forever! The mountains also reveal the true character and nature of a man. The skill and attributes you developed on your way will define who you have become.

Just as nature has taught us, no stage is permanent. Just when you start getting used to mountain top, you might suddenly find yourself on your way to the Valley! Sometimes you don’t even realise on time that you are on your way there until you are right at the Valley.

So many factors could be responsible for the return trip to the Valley from the Mountain top. It could be ‘self-inflicted’ as a result of an attempt to conquer another Mountain. You just didn’t just realise that the gap between the mountain you were on, and another higher one is a deep valley. Some factors could be as a result of personal errors and wrong choices in life. Some factors, you just can’t even explain; life just happens.

Some people are unable to recover from this rude shock of life. ‘Life is so unfair’ they say, ‘how do I ever recover? It’s too late, I’m too old to do this again.’ So they give up and die, or pitch their tents in the valleys and spend the remains of their days telling stories to the younger generation of their past victories. They become story tellers of the valley. They are simply too tired to try again.

Some start their journey up again. They pack their baggage and begin to climb. The only difference is that this time they are smarter by reason of experience. They avoid the pitfalls of the past. They don’t even wait at the Plains and the Hills to rest. They know that the greatest reward is at the top of the Mountain and they are going straight for it.

What Do You Do When You Are Too Tired To Go A Step Further?
There are three things to do.

First, look back; to your past successes and not failures, to progress made and not downfalls. Remember the good times you had and achievements you experienced. Man, you were good!
Secondly, look forward. To the gratification of conquering this new Mountain and proving that you are a mountain-owner. Look forward to all the good incentives and rewards that come with the success of the Mountain top.
Thirdly, look upward; to the One that sticks closer than a brother. You need The One who that will go all the way to the Mountain top with you; even when everyone else abandons you. Jesus is The One that knows all the secret routes to the mountain top. He is The One that will give you fresh vision when you lose your vision. He will make straight your path even when your eyes are dim. He will keep your vision alive and take you to the very top.

If you have not met Jesus, I will like to introduce Him to you. He is the Breath of Life; He is the Giver of Life. He is the Saviour and Lord of mankind. Simply say this prayer at the right-hand column of this page. God bless you!

‘A Pen for Your Thoughts’ articles are written by Olufunke Agboola

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Lessons From My Childhood

When I was growing up, my brothers and I were picked up from school by our Uncle, our Dad’s younger brother. He lived with us when his University was on vacation and when he finally finished school. In the beginning, we were happy to see him go when school was back on because he wasn’t one of those fun uncles that brought back chocolates and presents, he brought with him strict rules and maths questions. So, during our vacation times, while all the other children played on the street, we were either solving math questions or reading our bible.

As a child, it seemed like the end of the world, being stuck with an Uncle with a “no fun” policy, an Uncle so strict that we couldn’t wait to avoid him by going to sleep. But now, as I look back, I am able to appreciate some of the things he was able to offer my brothers and I.
During our morning and nightly devotion, he made us recite a few things including the usual “Grace” and Psalm 23:6. One of those recitations was Romans 1:16

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”.

To be honest, when I was reciting it back then, these words had no meaning to me. All I knew was that I had to say it with deep conviction and believe that what I was saying was true and was meant to be delivered to the world.
Nowadays, these words bring more understanding to me about who I am, who I should be and who the people around me should be.

First of all, I should never hide my faith. It is who I am, my destiny. I should be proud to declare that I am a child of God and preach His word to any one that is willing to hear. God has given me the gift of Salvation because I was able to believe. There is no way I will not be proud enough to declare that to the world.

Now, apart from me, He has also given the right of that same Salvation to anyone. Not only to those who were born into the religion (Jews) but also to all others who were misinformed about Him being the One True God. He has said, that we, those that know, would check ourselves first and be sure to receive the Salvation, knowing that, being born into the religion alone does not save you, but believing that He is true and willing accepting Him as truth. After we have received Him, we are then tasked with the job of telling the world (Greek) those that are living not knowing that His salvation is open to them. My evangelism skills are not what I would call prime (unlike my mother’s gift), but I will definitely try to tell anyone in my life, whenever I have the opportunity, that His love is so expanded, that He has freely given us all Salvation; NO discrimination!

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The Story Never Ends in the Middle…

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
Philippians 1:6 (The Message)

It was a different morning yesterday while I was prepping my daughter for school- just because the TV was on. Normally we do not let the kids watch any shows on week days, but somehow they got watching – Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory by Leapfrog® while I made breakfast and packed up the lunch box. It’s been one of the best playing DVDs lately as my daughter is actually learning to read.

So it was almost time to go and I sat down for a few minutes – then I heard from the show – The Story never ends in the middle! Whoa! My spirit jumped at it- and I shouted it out loud! It seemed like that was all I needed for this time of my life. Not following the story, nor caring what led to the statement, I said it over and over and immediately made it into a prayer. The kids watched me as I went “crazy” with this statement.

From a simple kid’s DVD – God spoke right to me and gave me the word I needed. There were a few things that I’ve tried to work on in the past months and it seemed like it wasn’t coming through and I was at a point that I wanted to put them away and move on………but that was the middle of the story. Immediately I heard that statement from my kid’s show – I received a lift, a new fire and an inner strength and I just knew that was God talking to me. He met the need of my spirit from a simple kid’s show.

Hmmn, so where are you friend? You know it’s the middle of the story – I just want to say to you – THE STORY NEVER ENDS IN THE MIDDLE. This great God who made you has great plans for you and even for that very matter that seems has come to a halt; I want you to know that the story never ends in the middle.

It’s not yet time to move on – it’s time to speak to the situation, work harder at it, believe in it and most importantly wait on God concerning it because there are new chapters and episodes ahead in the story and when the story ends it will end beautifully and in your favour.

Titilope (Titi) Oyegbile writes from Milton-Ontario- Canada. You can check out her blog at http://mindfeeders.com/Index.aspx

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God’s Word – The Seed Of His Blessing

A true revelation of God’s Word is the single most important element of a victorious Christian life. There are a total of forty-four verses in the New Testament where the Greek word was translated ‘seed’. To conceive and give birth to the miracles you need, you must first plant God’s Word like a seed in your heart. There has only been one virgin birth, and the birth of your miracle won’t be the second.

I constantly meet Christians who pray and believe for God’s intervention in their lives, but remain frustrated with the results. It’s because they are missing the seeds of conception; they just don’t know God’s Word. In Mark 4, the Lord taught three parables which illustrate that the Word is to the Kingdom of God what a natural seed is to a harvest. The first of these parables, the story of the sower, is the key to unlocking all the Word of God (Mark 4:13). Our hearts were created by God to bring forth fruit when His Word is planted in them.

Just as a seed has to remain in the ground over time to germinate, so the Word of God has to abide in us. I cannot tell you strongly enough how important it is that you know God’s Word and that you plant the seed of His Word in your heart long before you need the fruit of the harvest. It could mean the difference between prosperity and poverty, or even life and death. So, make this year your personal Year of the Bible and build a sure foundation in your own life. It will be the best decision you have ever made and you will be an OVER COMER.

This article was contributed by iamsheunski@yahoo.com

Excellence as a Lifestyle…

The root of the word Excellence is the phrase “to exceed”, or to go beyond the standard, to stand apart or to stand out. Other meanings are superiority, first class, eminently good.

Lifestyle implies a way of life – the habits, attitudes, tastes, moral standards of a person.

Therefore, a lifestyle of excellence speaks to exceeding as a way of life, going beyond the standard as a habit, having a first class attitude, having superior moral standards; as opposed to being an occasional visitor to the shrine of excellence. It speaks to a state of being – being an embodiment of all that is eminently good, a reflection and purveyor of high standards and a poster-child for excellent living.

Daniel 6:3 – 5 is the Scripture that identifies and enumerates all the qualities that made Daniel an excellent and exceptional personality. From that Scripture, we can note the following key phrases as marks of excellence against which to measure ourselves. Daniel:

Distinguished himself
Had exceptional qualities
Had no corruption found in him
Was trustworthy
Was not negligent
Had no basis for charges to be brought against him (except false ones)

Another Scripture we all love to default and allude to when praying for excellence, especially for our children, is Isaiah 11: 2 – 5. Again, the key words to note are:

An excellent spirit is equated to possession of the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit of:
- Wisdom
- Understanding
- Counsel
- Power or Might
- Knowledge
- Fear of the Lord
- That delights in the fear of the Lord
- Judges not by sight
- Thus gives righteous judgement
- Does not take decisions based on hearing alone
- Thus takes just decisions and delivers justice
- Faithfulness, not falsehood or treachery

If I had to choose a word to describe all these attributes, it would be the word, Wholesome. Wholesomeness suggests a general well-being, an equilibrium/balance between our soul, spirit and body.

An excellent lifestyle is a wholesome way of life. Years ago, the buzz word in management was Total Quality (TQ). In a sense, TQ can be applied to this idea of an all-encompassing pursuit of excellence in all facets of life. It is not limited to academic or career pursuits, not limited to spiritual activities, not restricted to home life. It requires excellence in:

Your thoughts and speech
Your conduct
Your relationships
Your appearance (dressing and comportment)
Your vocation (academics, business, career)
And above all, excellence in the things of the Spirit

But, let me narrow things down to the following four areas:

Speech (and thoughts, by implication)
Performance (work, home and all other life endeavours)
Conduct
Leadership

In all of these, note that Excellence is essentially mastery over your natural impulses, which is also equivalent to self-discipline.

Excellence in Speech

James 3:2 – Anyone who does not err in what they say is perfect (or excellent), able to keep their whole body in check.

Unwholesome speech is NOT limited to the use of four-letter words (curses and coarse language). Lies, innuendos, half-truths, gossips, whisperings, rumour-mongering, malicious statements, slander, unsubstantiated claims and accusations, and all sorts of ill-will delivered by the power of the tongue – all qualify as unwholesome speech. The question is this – where is the mark of excellence in the life of someone who spews such things?

David, another striver after excellence declared plaintively in Psalm 141:3, “God, put a guard over my mouth and a watch over the door of my lips”.

Excellence in your thoughts translates to responsible and wholesome speech. There are people all over the place, including sadly, in church, who do not filter their thoughts before they become speech. They allow every little thing that drops into their heads to pop out of their mouths – no filtering, no mastery of their impulses, no logical sorting of their thoughts or words, no demonstrated ability for critical thinking; they are essentially lazy thinkers. To call them infantile would be an insult to children everywhere. These are people who apply no rigour in their lives. Excellence demands rigour.

Bishop used to say, “You cannot stop a bird from perching on your head (can`t stop a thought from dropping into your mind) but you sure can stop it from building a nest there (you can stop a thought from festering and developing into speech).

If you constantly spew poison from your mouth, it is reflection of a poisonous thought life and a poisonous personality, and clear evidence of a lack of excellence in you. We are admonished by the apostle Paul to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ.

Why this emphasis on thought and speech? In the earlier Scripture reference, Apostle James said if we do not err in speech, we do not err at all. He was on to something. He was cognizant of what the writer of Proverbs said eons ago – As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. I will expand that to say, As a man thinketh in his heart, so he speaketh with his mouth and so is he.

Clean up your thought life and your speech and watch your life begin to transform into one of excellence.

Excellence in Performance

Let`s zero in on careers – it is often said, and rightly so, that it is the way you do someone else`s work that you would do yours, when the time comes. So this is also applicable to business endeavours.

You must choose to be the best you can be. Don`t be in the middle of the pack, be at its head.
Do more than enough to get by, commit to doing good work and going well beyond that which is just enough.

But note the following:

Ability is not enough to get you to your destiny. Excellence is what gets you there.
Excellence is not a skill but an attitude, a mind-set.
Excellence is in the details; develop excellence in little matters and you develop an excellent, prevailing attitude.
Excellence demands persistence, not a one-off effort.
It is a process but measured by results. Gone is the era of A for effort – excellence now gets measured in real terms viz. exceptional outputs/outcomes.
Excellence is a journey, perfection is the destination.

A quote by an IBM executive summarises this whole concept beautifully:

“There are countless ways of attaining greatness but any road to reaching ones maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for individuals, a commitment to excellence and a rejection of mediocrity.“

Mediocrity is of course, ordinariness, second-rate ability, being average rather than being outstanding. And, every time you fail to choose excellence, mediocrity just shows up in its place by default. You do not have to consciously make mediocre choices to be a mediocre performer; failing to take the path of excellence would do it each and every time.

You will never attain to excellence with a poor attitude or bad character. How many times have you heard it said that ability or talent will get you to the top but it is character that keeps you there. I would even challenge that thought by stating that ability without character will no longer get you to the top.

From practical experience – while I am no expert on the subject, I do have a modest 23-year experience of having had the burden of managing peoples` performance through appraisals, promotion decisions and career development. Every career progression is marked by promotions – that is the way to climb the career ladder. Many Christians complain about being passed over for promotion, attributing it to a malicious boss, an unfair system or a spiritual problem. But I have found that most of us are our own worst enemies. While there are indeed the occasionally unfortunate cases of unmerited delays, those are the exception to the rule and are in fact, few and far between.

Many people are mediocre performers – just doing enough to get by, showing up and doing the minimum they can get away with and failing to address their competency gaps by developing their abilities and skills. Some actually believe they are doing a good job but have in fact set the bar too low for themselves thus consistently falling short of corporate or group expectations.

An exceptional performance requires you to meet deadlines, exceed targets and prove that you work for the organisation`s greater good.

Others who have ability and drive, have a very poor attitude.

In essence, brethren, you are not passed over or sidelined or discriminated against, you are simply not promotable. Why?

Promotion demands the ability to perform and deliver at the next higher level;
It requires a consistent track record of sustained good performance;
It requires you to be able to expand your scope, capability and to take on more responsibility and;
It implies that you are on track for a future leadership position (because if you keep climbing the career ladder, you will eventually get into leadership – in the event you do not exhibit necessary leadership qualities, your promotion will get stunted).

When you fail in any of these, you are not ready for a promotion, assuming the opportunity exists or a position opens up.

Now, still speaking of practical experience – in my current organisation (let`s assume that organisation is called TREM), there is a set of behaviours we call TREMWay behaviours and the bottom line is that you are expected not just to get results, but to get results the right way each and every time. What is interesting is how closely the list of behaviours aligns with the Isaiah 11 and Daniel 6 attributes of excellence – showing that Biblical principles still form the foundation of the best and most genuine secular pursuits.

Time and again, someone has been passed over for a promotion in spite of exceptional technical ability and performance because they have a bad attitude – they are said not to exhibit TREMWay behaviours and can therefore not be trusted with that next higher level appointment or assignment. It is concluded that they are well-placed at their current level – inevitably, a death knell for a promotion.

Such people are rude, disruptive, arrogant, refuse to play by corporate rules, are not good team players thus detracting from overall team performance, cannot get along with anyone, are contentious even when there is nothing to contend for – real rebels without a cause, can`t take or handle constructive feedback without taking it personal. Just generally impossible to work with without getting a headache. We call them High Maintenance and no one wants to work with them or supervise them, given the choice. Clearly, these are not marks of excellence or marks of a potential leader. And guess what happens when this sort is not promoted, they sulk and behave even worse; their performance suffers thus becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy of unpromotability.

The fact is that if you do excellent work naturally, intuitively and instinctively because you are committed to a life of excellence, even when you are seemingly not favoured or rewarded, you will still do excellent work by default, knowing that Excellence is its own reward.

And may I add that while in church, a bad attitude or a contentious character may be covered by grace, the laws of grace get suspended in the workplace unless God intervenes to activate them and even He expects His children to comport themselves as credible ambassadors of an excellent kingdom – He is not in the business of sponsoring or validating bad behaviour.

Excellence in Conduct

I think I might be stating the obvious when I talk about the need for excellence in our conduct. I am of the opinion that both Daniel 6 and Isaiah 11 summarise this concept very beautifully, with those lengthy lists of attributes. Again, I will default to the use of one word to capture the attributes that describe an excellent conduct. That word is Integrity.

What is Integrity? It is adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character, uprightness, honesty, the state of being whole (see that word again?), being sound and unimpaired and being in perfect condition.

Judge for yourself whether or not you measure up or are even on the path to achieving excellence in your conduct.

Excellence in Leadership

As a leader, always choose excellence over popularity. In the short term, you may be unpopular or even disliked but over the longer term, you will earn respect as someone who rewards merit, is just and even-handed, committed to seeing those around him get better and is always willing to share the credit and the limelight, even if that respect is not universal. There will always be hold-outs; those who have signed on to a life of mediocrity will resent you for driving them too hard and will have nothing good to say about your style of leadership. But we can all take solace in the fact that our Lord who was perfect and sinless did not have universal acceptance either, not even among his closest associates, his team of twelve. Leadership is not a soap box for canvassing votes on popularity. It is first and foremost, a responsibility.

The moral authority of a leader to demand an excellent followership is his own personal commitment to excellence.

Every leader has been a follower once, therefore note that excellent followership is the foundation of your future leadership quality or the prerequisite to a future leadership marked by an exceptional standard.

A mediocre follower who by fair or foul means somehow eventually attains to leadership cannot go beyond the level of an even more mediocre leader. You cannot give what you do not have. What is more? As a leader, your shortcomings are even more glaring than when you were a mere follower. This is simply because you are going to wake up one day realising that you have been promoted beyond your competence. You may be able to talk the talk by bluffing (through the gift of gab) but if you cannot walk the talk, you will soon be found out. Examples abound both in the workplace and in church as witnessed by us all.

Now is the time to deal with the mediocrity inherent in your nature. And remember that Excellence is always a choice.

To tie all this together, because someone is liable to wonder how impossible the pursuit of excellence is – constantly seeking to excel in thoughts, speech, in conduct, in relationships, in business, in the workplace, as a mother, father, son, daughter and in the things of God.

This is precisely why it has to become a way of life. It is a lifestyle issue; just like sporadic dieting does not result in a healthy, nice physique, requiring that healthy eating becomes a lifestyle choice; so is anything that we intend to practice as second nature.

Excellence becomes who you are and what you are and it permeates every aspect of your life; without conscious effort of making individual choices in every circumstance over time. It would naturally colour your vision and all you do.

We are not Schizophrenics (with split personalities) –an angel in church and a monster out there; competent at work and slovenly at home. A lifestyle of excellence is a lifestyle of consistency. Every time we are faced with choices, let us determine to choose the path that leads to an excellent outcome until it becomes a habit. It is well worth the price.

One final word – no one is claiming a monopoly of knowledge or of excellence or suggesting that they are better than others or indeed that they have already attained to perfection in excellence. We, after all, are all works in progress. My job this morning is to provoke you to righteousness. It is however a fact that some of us have chosen this path and made a commitment to always pursue excellence, while recognising like Paul in Philippians 2:12- 14, that we should:

Not be self-satisfied
Press on or strain towards excellence
Lay hold on excellence
Forget the past because the good news is that you can start today on this journey
Be focused on the goal and;
Ultimately win the prize

May we receive the help of the Holy Spirit of God, the most excellent Spirit, to become all that God intended. And when we hit the finish line at the end of our journey, may we leave behind an enduring, positive impact in the lives of all we encounter and touch along that journey, and above all, may we be accepted by God. Amen.

Deaconess Obafunke Alade-Adeyefa writes from Lagos, Nigeria

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